lane departure warning. safety, down to an art. the nissan altima with safety shield technologies. nissan. innovation that excites. ♪ hi, everyone, i'm tamron hall. "news nation" is following developing news. the house is right now debating the rules for what's being called the most restrictive abortion bill to hit the floor of congress in a decade. the bill bans most abortions after 20 weeks, claiming that's when the fetus can feel pain. it was recently amended to exclude cases of rape or incest if they are reported. it also excludes cases when the mother's life is at risk. congressman trent franks, the bill's sponsor, will not be leading the debate today. last week he sparked controversy by claiming the inconsistent --

there's no evidence of rapes resulting in pregnancies and that it is very low. instead co-sponsor marsha blackburn of tennessee will be in charge. she told craig melvin today that it's what the people want. >> this is something that the american people have said you need to do something about this. women have said you need to do something about these late-term abortions. it is -- there's a tremendous amount of public support for taking an action, for putting a ban on these late-term abortions. >> joining me now is nbc capitol hill correspondent kelly o'donnell. kelly, we are now starting, as we pointed out, the set of the rules here. what's been the reaction? you're hearing even some republicans who are cautious or worried about this direction of this bill? >> reporter: knowing that this would get so much attention because it is one of the most passion-inspiring issues in the country, there are some republicans and some leadership aides who would prefer this not

be happening now to focus national attention on it because there are other matters that they know might have a greater likelihood of going somewhere in terms of legislation that perhaps should get attention. this issue related to abortion of course is a message vote for many republicans who believe strongly that they have to bring this issue up from time to time and they want to do so to sort of hold their -- the fire to the flame -- foot to the flame, you know, whatever metaphor is appropriate there, because they believe that they have got to keep this in the public debate. so there is some disagreement among republicans. however, this is sort of a ripped from the headlines moment as well because there is that case that went to court earlier this year involving the philadelphia area abortion provider and that got so much concern because of the specifics, horrific specifics in that case. speaker boehner even commented about that today, that it is one of the reasons this issue has come back before congress. >> all right, kelly.

>> the trial and some of the horrific acts that were going on, a vast majority of the american people believe in the substance of this bill and so do i. >> reporter: so democrats today argued that this is unconstitutional, goes against the decision of roe v. wade. they talked about other legislative aspects to this. this would put new pressure on law enforcement, which would cause what they call an unfunded mandate. and just a strong voice of women, concerned about what this might do to women's health and access to care. so it is as volatile as it gets, tamron, in terms of debate on a house floor. we'll see that unfolding this afternoon. >> honestly this issue is volatile in everyday conversations. >> reporter: absolutely. >> so we're not diminishing it in any way, kelly, but the question is the motivation for republicans here knowing that this essentially will go nowhere and also knowing that there is some dissent even within the party on if this is the right

direction at the right time. >> reporter: there is often debate on these things and in terms of the strategy involved because it is clear while it can pass the house, it won't go further. the white house opposes this. senate democrats who have the enl on the senate side won't go anywhere with this. but whether it's an issue moved forward by conservatives or sometimes other issues that a more liberal, progressive part of the party might bring forward in terms of democrats have things on their list, it's about bringing the conversation. we're doing it right now, we're shining light on it and that's something that those who are really supportive of this action, the 20-week limit, they want this attention, even if their leadership might not want this to be the subject of the day. >> thank you, kelly. republicans are also getting criticism, as i mentioned from some members in the party. in fact congressman charlie dent of pennsylvania told "the new york times," quote, i think it's a stupid idea to bring this up. the economy is on everybody's minds. we're seeing stagnant job numbers, confidence in the

institution and government is eroding. joining me, samantha gordon. thank you for joining us. samantha, you heard kelly o'donnell say that you have republicans, conservatives who believe, yes, this may not go anywhere, meaning turning into law. but their message is being discussed and it is on the forefront and we are leading this show and many others have talked about it all day. >> you know, absolutely, tamron. back in 2012 the republicans know they have an anti-choice, anti-woman agenda and that's what we're seeing today. you know, they say they want to appeal to women but that's not what they're doing. they're saying they want to push a social agenda despite the way women and most americans feel. seven out of ten americans support roe versus wade. we've seen that this year. however, this eey refuse to wor jobs and the economy and push their personal agenda on the american people. >> craig melvin asked if this

bill is pandering and the fact that it will go nowhere. let me play her reaction to that. >> no, it isn't pandering at all. is saving the life of women and of babies pandering? absolutely not. i can't believe you would say something like that. my goodness! >> she went on to say this is really about exposing cases like kermit gosnell, who will spend the rest of his life after killing babies in his office. he performed late-term abortions in that office. what is your reaction to at least that line of response to this move? >> reporter: well, that story was a horrific story. he was an absolute criminal. there's no one on the other side of that issue. however, his breed in an environment where abortion could be illegal. with this 20-week abortion ban, if abortion is outlawed, you'll only see more kermit gosnell.

they'll go to back alley butchers and seek the cheapest, unsafest, medical care and that's just dangerous to women's health. for marsha blackburn's comments and her being thrown into this debate because it's pretty much window dressing for the gop, it's really out of touch and ultimately an insult to women. >> and when you say window dressing, that is because congressman trent franks who made the comment about rape and incest resulting in pregnancy, the actual sponsor of this bill, is not the face of it today? >> reporter: absolutely. you know gop and these male politicians really have a problem welcome back womith wom. when you talk about rape that results in a pregnancy is relatively low. 25,000 can be reported and result in a rape every year. that's not low. that's insulting to women. yet you still have the franks and marsha blackburns who know nothing about women's health pushing this legislation that's completely out of touch. we are following the head of

the national security aenls hge issuing a forceful defense of the programs. keith alexander testified for hours today before the house intelligence committee. he said ironically the leaks by edward snowden showed the rigorous oversight and compliance our government uses to balance security with civil liberties and privacy. he also insisted the programs have foiled dozens of terrorist plots. >> these programs, together with other intelligence, have protected the u.s. and our allies from terrorist threats across the globe, to include helping prevent the potential terrorist events over 50 times since 9/11. >> at the hearing officials detailed four such instances, including plots to bomb new york subways and the new york stock exchange. meanti meantime, nsa director insisted no one is listening to your phone calls or reading your e-mails. >> is the nsa on private

companies' servers as defined under these two programs? >> we are not. >> is the nsa have the ability to listen to americans' phone calls or read their e-mails under these two programs? >> no, we do not have that authority. >> does the technology exist at the nsa to flip a switch by some analyst to listen to americans' phone calls or read their e-mails? >> no. >> president obama made similar remarks in an interview with pbs's charlie rose. the president also insisting he is no dick cheney. >> some people say, well, obama was this raving liberal before, now he's dick cheney. dick cheney sometimes says yeah, you know, he took it all lock, stock and barrel. my concern has always been not that we shouldn't do intelligence gathering to prevent terrorism, but rather are we setting up a system of checks and balances. >> joining me now, nbc news

national investigative correspondent, michael isikoff. michael, are you there? >> reporter: i am indeed. >> so it is interesting to see this balance, if you will, that the president was referring to, how much we now know regarding the secret programs after edward snowden leaked this information, including these plots, at least four of them detailed. one of them we knew about. >> reporter: right. and we got some details today, but not a whole lot. there's a reference -- the zazy plot has been discussed previously and that's been cited as an example where the surveillance of a terrorist overseas led to his identifying a plotter in the united states. there's been some pushback on that because there's court testimony that suggests actually it was british intelligence that first identified him in the united states, not the nsa surveillance program. there are three others that were

mentioned, very sketchy details about exactly the role that the nsa surveillance program played. the plot -- the alleged plot to blow up the new york stock exchange that was referred to by deputy fbi director shawn joyce seems to have been when you look at the court records extremely rudimentary and not very far advanced at all. but i think the real question here is if you look, listen closely to the language that was used, what nsa director alexander said is that nsa surveillance has helped prevent these plots. they have contributed to the unraveling of these plots. so exactly what role they played is still a little unclear. in almost all of the cases cited, it's the -- what's called the 702 program, which targets suspected terrorists overseas

and only when they are in contact with somebody in the united states does the nsa begin surveillance intercepting e-mail messages, listening to the phone calls. that's general lly been known about all along. what's triggered this controversy was not that but the disclosure of the separate program using the patriot act provision to mass collect for a database everyone's phone records in the united states. the time and length and identity of those calls. not the name of the caller, but just the phone bills themselves. that's what people didn't know about. when you listen to the testimony today, we heard very little about how that program helped foil terrorist plots. >> all right, michael, thank you. now let me bring in congressman james cloi burn ybu. thank you, sir, for your time today. >> thank you for having me.

>> i'm not sure if you heard michael isikoff's report there but in his assessment we did not hear a lot about the program that's caused so much stir, the gathering of names and phone numbers -- rather of potential people who are perhaps involved in plots, but we did hear a lot about plots that were foiled. is that enough information and are the american people receiving enough information to make folks rest easy that they are not being spied on, that their conversations are not being listened to, sir? >> well, i think so. i'm not sure exactly what may be enough for one person as opposed to another. but i have heard enough and i'm pretty confident that what we are experiencing here are some of the things that are absolutely necessary if we are going to keep the country safe. we know that there are plots out there, there are people who want to do us harm. they will go to any length to do so. and so we have to go to great

lengths in order to subvert their programs, infiltrate, if you will, find out who they're talking to and why. and i really believe that there is enough safeguarding for all of us to be comfortable that our privacy is not being unduly trampled upon. >> sir, it was just recently that you said these high profile leaks about these programs are part of a broader effort by the opponents of the president to damage the administration politically. when you look at this new cnn poll out, people were asked if obama was honest and trustworthy, that number is now at 49%. in may it was 58%. if folks are to process this the way you are and to believe that we're getting the information we need and that our privacy is not being compromised, that there is an adequate balance of security and privacy, why do you think the numbers are showing a dip in those that believe that the president is now trustworthy?

>> i think that these numbers go up and down. it all depends upon what is happening within that 24-hour cycle. the fact of the matter is the president is doing what had been done before. a lot of the people believe that he should not be going in the direction that he is going. i for one believe that he should. just because the president opposed what bush was doing, remember that little episode with ashcroft on his hospital bed, not even coherent. and with ashcroft even in his incoherence saying to the folks in his room he did not want to cooperate with what they were trying to do. that's the kind of stuff we ought not be having in this system. the president is going through the court getting all the judicial oversight that we need and i really believe that we're

in a pretty good place with the way the president is doing this. >> i've just got a minute but i want to get your reaction on the debate of this new abortion bill said to be one of the most restrictive that we've seen in a decade. republicans pushing this issue yet again despite the fact of knowing that it will go nowhere, so to speak. what is your reaction? >> my reaction is simply this. throwing red meat to the base is all this is about. i would wish that my republican colleagues will join with us in doing something creating jobs, doing something about raising the minimum wage, doing something about making people's lives better. all this foolishness of doing these -- bringing these things to the floor that you know even if they were to pass the house, which i suspect it will, it's not going anywhere in the senate. and the president says if per chance it stumbles through the senate, he would veto it.

so this is just a lot of foolishness. let's get people back to work. >> i'm curious about your thoughts that now marsha blackburn is essentially the face of this, after the remarks made by trent franks. what is your reaction? she's been out front, was on today on msnbc and other programs taking one for the team and being the face of this. >> that's exactly right. if they were so comfortable with what they were doing and with the bill, why you took the bill away from the sponsor? let him come out and explain what his reasons are. and i think that when the american people see exactly how ill mannered this is, how if it's not unconstitutional, how wrong and unfair this is, i think it says a lot about the administration. so it's kind of interesting for the sponsor of the bill to be talking about his bill. that's interesting. >> congressman clyburn, thank

you so much for your time. i greatly appreciate it. >> thank you. coming up, we're expecting an announcement from the pentagon within the hour that women may soon be able to start training for special ops teams like the navy s.e.a.l.s and army rangers. plus senator claire mccaskill the first to get on board a super pac supporting a hillary clinton candidacy for president. we'll get the first read from our nbc news senior political editor mark murray. you can join our conversation at twitter. find us @tamronhall a and @newsnation. plan with premiu maintenance included.

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. attorneys in the george zimmerman murder trial need just eight more prospective jurors r

before they led into the next round of questioning. 32 out of the 40 people needed have been selected to move on. once six jurors are picked, opening statements can begin. zimmerman has pleaded not guilty in the shooting death of 17-year-old trayvon martin last year. he claimed self defense. martin was unarmed. nbc's ron mott joins me live from sanford. ron, it looks like things are moving fast here. are we looking at a timeline perhaps by the end of the week we could have this jury seated? >> reporter: it seems reasonable, tamron. good afternoon, first of all. it seems reasonable that they'll get to that pool of 40 by the end of the week. the judge called 12 in for today. there were 12 for today. six scheduled to come in tomorrow. that's 18. and they need eight out of that 18. that's reasonable to think they will be able to get eight people in the next two days. once they got to 40, they will bring everyone in for that collective voir dire and that's when they'll get into a lot more than just pretrial publicity. they'll drill into who these people are, talk about their

past, where they went to school, where they worship, to try to get the best six people to hear this case. the most impartial people to hear this case. today we're about six out of the 12 and tomorrow we'll go another six. yesterday we talked on the air about this hearing they resumed with that third defense witness yesterday. that process went four hours, it was grueling. went until 8:30 eastern last night and they're going to continue it tomorrow afternoon. the state wants to call one of its prosecution experts back onto the stand tomorrow as a rebuttal witness. >> we'll talk with you tomorrow for the update. we should also mention george zimmerman has sued nbc universal, the parent company of this network, for defamation and the company has strongly denied his allegations. coming up, did house speaker john boehner give in to a warning that he should be ousted as speaker if he brought immigration reform to the house floor without the support of a majority of house republicans? it's just one of the things we thought you should know today.

in just a few minutes, the pentagon will finally lay out their plans on how they plan to integrate women into thousands of combat units in the military. according to reports on this new plan, women could soon start training within the military's most elite special forces. the army rangers and the navy s.e.a.l.s. the move was made possible back in january when former secretary of defense leon panetta cleared the way for women to serve in combat positions, ending a

20-year ban. so here's some numbers, take a look. women make up about 14% of the 1.4 million active u.s. military personnel and more than 280,000 women have been sent to iraq and afghanistan or neighboring nations in the last ten years. according to defense officials, any speculation that women will have combat -- or ground combat roles is, quote, premature. joining me is democratic congresswoman from hawaii, one of the first female combat vets to serve in congress. thank you for your time, it's always an honor to have you on. thank you again for your service, of course. let me get what you know regarding these plans that will be laid out soon. >> thank you, tamron. great to talk with you. i'm really excited about this long overdue policy change as we've all seen coming since january when it was first announced by the secretary of defense. what we're seeing today is an announcement that some of these

special operations force teams women will have an opportunity to train, whether it's the rangers or navy s.e.a.l.s. what we'll see is there will be one standard set of requirements for men and women in uniform who wish to serve in these elite fighting forces. i have had the pleasure and honor of serving with many, many talented selfless female service members and know if given the opportunity, these women would be a great asset to any fighting unit and would be able to meet those requirements. >> it's interesting because some of the reporting out there, congresswoman, says that the pentagon and military officials caution that no final decision had been made regarding eligibility for women to intercom bat roles in the elite special ops forces or ground combat roles in the infantry, that no final decisions have been made regarding eligibility. do you know any more about that part of i guess the decision-making process here? >> i think this is something that we in congress are watching very closely to see how the department of defense is executing the policy change

first announced by then secretary of defense leon panetta. really it's going to come down to execution and how they plan to do this, and this is something that we're going to be watching to make sure that it is carried out and the intent of this policy change is brought to fruition. as you talked before, women have been serving in these ground combat units for quite some time now. we've seen unfortunately over 130 women since september 11th who have given their lives, paid that ultimate price through their service in these combat units. it's now just about time that we're changing the policies and changing the training to now formalize and officiate what these women have been doing for some time. >> it's also interesting that the role of women, a combat role, at least according to some, may have played a part in this crisis of sexual assault and sexual harassment within the military. i want to play what general martin dempsey said january 24th and get your reaction. >> we've had this ongoing issue

with sexual harassment, sexual assault. i believe it's because we've had separate classes of military personnel at some level. it's far more complicated than that. but when you have one part of the population that is designated as warriors and another part that's designated as something else, i think that disparity begins to establish a psychology that in some cases led to that environment. >> as mentioned, you've served this country. do you agree with general dempsey's assessment? >> i think that he may have a point there, that that may have played a role in what we're seeing, these spiking numbers of unfortunate cases of sexual assault in all branches of the military. i think what we'll see now as these doors are opened and women, service members are given the same equal opportunities as their male counterparts, that we'll start to see some representation not only of our community but of the great assets that we have in our

military and these doors will be opened for women to serve in some of these higher ranking positions of leadership that until now have been closed off and be able to offer their own experiences and own perspectives, especially in these positions of leadership. >> thank you so much for your time and again thank you for your service. we'll have more details for our audience as soon as these plans are unveiled. thank you again. >> thank you, aloha. up next, are gun safety advocates reloading, preparing for another push for gun control? vice president joe biden said in the last hour that those who oppose sensible gun legislation will pay. >> and i will not mention names, but look at those who voted no and look at what their poll results are in their states immediately after voting no. plus the tsa now investigating a situation after a father posted this picture of his 15-year-old daughter saying that a tsa agent, quote, shamed her for the clothes that she wore while traveling. we'll tell you what the tsa

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in the past hour, vice president joe biden made it enclosure the obama administration is not giving up its efforts to reduce gun violence. at an event in washington, the vice president outlined a so-called progress report on the administration's gun control efforts, specifically the 23 executive actions the president laid out back in january following the sandy hook shooting. this is the first time the white house has addressed gun violence since the bill to expand background checks was defeated in the senate back in april. despite the setback, mr. biden says they have been able to strengthen the existing background check system but their work is not over.

>> as proud as the president is, as proud as i am of the progress we've made, we need congress to act. the american people are demanding it. as i've said before, we need to make sure the voices of those we lost are the loudest ones we hear in this fight. we need to make sure that everyone in the country knows that this fight isn't over. >> gun control advocates say the president's executive actions are only baby steps. the real question is will the administration make another congressional push for gun control legislation? joining me now, sirius xm michael who's an msnbc contributor. michael, what do you assess is happening, is this a real push or a libicking of the wounds? the president and many others taking it personally that even the background checks went nowhere. >> i think they'd like to get it done. the interest is legitimate and earnest but i'll dubious as to

the chances because i think the timing is against them, tamron. i say that because what's happened since the failure is concerned in certain quarters about the collection of data of the all of these edward snowden nsa issues you've talked about and even though toomey-manchin -- i just don't think now is the time when they're going to be able to get this done, especially when immigration seems to be more of a front burner item and they can't do more at the same time. >> it's interesting that the vice president said 21 of the 23 executive actions have been completed and he referred to them as major tasks, but let me play what the president said back in january when he was talking about those measures, what he was able to do versus what congress needs to do. >> as important as these steps are, they are in no way a substitute for action from members of congress.

to make a real and lasting difference, congress too must act. >> so there you have it, michael, in a nutshell what gun safety advocates believe and what the president believed himself and still does in january that these actions that were praised today essentially, as i said before, are baby steps compared to what people believe is needed change to hopefully prevent these mass shootings that we've seen. >> tamron, a casual observer would be justified in asking for an explanation where polls say that 80%, 90% of americans were supportive of a universal background check, why can't you get this through the congress. i think hyperpartisan districts. the same members of congress who need not be supportive of this when they go home you'd think they are accountable. instead, they are placating their respective bases. that's the underlying problem

here. >> i know right after sandy hook and certainly right after the press conference from wayne lapierre, you say the tactic of the nra is to wait it out. they say something and they wait for the media and for people to move on and no real change comes about. that same strategy that was criticized that was called a paper tiger. are we at a point where it has worked again? >> i think it has. you know, there were many of us who wondered whether the administration should have pushed for a vote much sooner in time, more proximate to sandy hook. the counter wing argument was one as they'd be seen as capitalizing on the tragedy. i bet in retrospect the white house wishes they'd had a vote sooner rather than later. >> all right, we'll hopefully see you tomorrow, michael, thank you. and he was an early supporter for then candidate barack obama in 2008. now missouri senator claire mccaskill is getting a very early jump on backing hillary

clinton for president in 2016. she's has efforts to draft hillary today. in a statement posted on the political action committee ready for hillary, senator mccaskill says, quote, it's important we start early building a grassroots army from the ground up and effectively using the tools of the internet. all things president obama did so successfully, so if hillary does decide to run, we'll be ready to help her win. joining me now, nbc news senior political editor, mark murray. mark, it wasn't too long ago i actually had this panel discussion with former president bill clinton, and he said all of this talk about hillary clinton is a distraction, that there were other immediate things -- hillary clinton running for president, i should say, are a distraction and we need to be focused on other things. here you have senator mccaskill still focused on this draft hillary campaign. >> well, it is a little bit of a distraction in the sense that it

is way, way, way early when talking about 2016. one thing worth noting, it's not all that surprising that claire mccaskill or any other senator would be in support for hillary clinton to run for president. i think that the only surprising thing is that it came this early. it is important to note with this group ready for hillary is an organization that doesn't have official ties to the former secretary of state. it's made up of some midlevel, low level aides from her 2008 presidential campaign as well as some diehard supporters. one of the things that's going on and i think you saw claire mccaskill try to add to that is to let people know that they are excited about a hillary candidacy, to put pressure on her to be able to run. >> going back to the timing here, it is so early, so what's the strategy there? ultimately it is up to hillary clinton and she's indicated at least right now that she's not rushing to answer anyone. >> and i think the strategy goes to that pressure type of

situation. you and i have talked in the past. if we're going to get an official answer from hillary clinton, it won't be until early or mid-2015 so that's a long time from now. but the more the democrats end up saying, look, hillary clinton, you're our best chance to be able to hold on to the white house in 2016, we want you, we think that you're a history-making candidate. and claire mccaskill saying as a woman, we need to have women who are engaged in electing the first woman president, that all of a sudden even if hillary is debating whether or not she ends up doing it, that pressure pushes her over the finish line and gives her the pressure to run for the presidency and know there is support there for her. >> i don't think she doubts for a second that there's support out there for her. there's no shortage of that. thank you very much, mark. possible new developments in the search for a dad, father of two, who disappeared last week. within the last hour, authorities say a body was found in a connecticut lake where this popular wedding photographer went missing. we'll get the latest on the investigation. look what mommy is having.

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a new development in the desperate search for a popular connecticut wedding photographer who's been missing now for a week. nbc connecticut is reporting authorities in bridgeport have located a body in the lake. now, this is the same lake where he is believed to have gone missing last tuesday. the 33-year-old husband and father disappeared after family members say he went searching for his bike that had ballen into the water the previous day. last night family and friends and search volunteers held a vigil for eric that came after the state's official announced they were scaling back their search but would continue periodic aerial searches. michelle has more from our washington bureau and joins me now. michelle, what do we know about this body that was found? >> reporter: i can tell you i have confirmed that the body was spotted around 11:40 this morning. immediately authorities went out there, recovered the body.

i spoke with dwayne from the connecticut's department of energy environmental protection. what he tells me is that the body is now at the chief medical examiner's office. i said do you know how long it's going to take to identify this person? he said it probably shouldn't take too long. so what that tells me is a couple of things. the body may still have been in good condition and also the clothing on that person could obviously tell a lot. >> michelle, the circumstances here, he lost his bike, apparently, and the family says he went back searching for it. what else can you tell me about the circumstances surrounding when he disappeared? >> reporter: i've been on the phone most of the morning, tamron, with his friends. folks who have been out searching the area and also authorities who have also been coordinating these efforts. what they tell me is that last monday eric was involved in an accident on his bike. he fell off his bike, he hit his head, he cracked his helmet and

he couldn't find his bike. so he came out of the wooded area, went home. actually went to work last monday. then tuesday he asked his wife amber, they have two children and she's pregnant with the third child, hey, can you take me back out there, i think i know where this bike is. so she says, okay, i'll drop you off. he goes out to get the bike. she said i'll circle back around in an hour so if you can't ride it, we'll stick it in the car. amber circles back around and eric is nowhere to be found. just a few hours later, someone had placed a 911 call and said they had heard someone in the water calling for help. investigators went out there, searched and combed that area as much as possible along with volunteers and searchers over the last seven days but he wasn't found and the bike hasn't been located either. >> all right, michelle, thank you for the latest information that you were able to get from authorities there. and again authorities say that they found this body in the lake and we're waiting to hear more details on this story.

a push to solve a 2008 times square bombing tops our look at stories around the news nation today. the fbi and new york city police announcing a reward of up to $65,000 for information leading to the suspect or suspects. the bomb exploded the morning of march 6th at the times square armed forces recruiting station. authorities say the suspect may have been involved in two other bombings in new york city. and the tsa says it is investigating a report that an officer allegedly humiliated a 15-year-old girl at los angeles international airport. the girl said the officer told her she should, quote, cover up in a hostile tone as she went through an i.d. check line sunday. the girl's father posted what happened on his blog saying she was shaken up. the tsa says its officers are trained to be respectful at all times and it is looking into exactly what happened. that photograph is what the girl said she was wearing.

up next, the news nation gut check. two scout leaders could have their membership revoked after marching in a gay pride parade. the organizers say they were in violation of the policy against promoting political positions. we'll talk with one of the scout leaders. humans. we are beautifully imperfect creatures living in an imperfect world. that's why liberty mutual insurance has your back,

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time now for the news nation gut check. a local boy scouts organization in utah are demanding an apology from two scout leaders for marching at the utah gay pride parade earlier this month. officials say the two men violated a policy which banned scout members from using their position within the organization to promote a political agenda. peter brownstein is one of those leaders and now joins us. thanks for your time. the organization says you're not allowed to wear your scout uniform in these kinds of parades or to promote any political agenda, but you say you weren't wearing your scout uniform? >> that is correct, tamron, i was not wearing a scout uniform

on that day. >> so why are they demanding this apology from you? >> i am not certain. they feel that i was promoting an agenda and i would state that we were there in celebration of the new policy towards gay youth enacted by the bsa as an opportunity to celebrate. >> and we have some photographs of the parade and you see some of your colleagues in their scout uniforms. but you again say you're not in the picture and you were there but not in your scout uniform. what were you wearing? >> i was wearing a pair of nylon zip-off pants and a khaki green t-shirt with a scouting logo on the shirt and a sun hat. >> and what was that logo again? was it a scout logo? >> no, no, it was a rainbow version of a square knot. >> which is not an official attire, that's a shirt of your own but not considered a part of

the scout uniform, right? >> that is correct. >> so right now they're saying that if the two leaders, which include you, apologize, everything would be worked out. if you do not apologize, you could lose your membership with the boy scouts. are you prepared to apologize, even though you say you did not have your uniform on and you don't believe you violated the policy? >> i do not feel the need to apologize. i did something which the scouts have done for over 100 years, which is proudly carry the colors in the front of a parade as a community celebration. >> we'll see what happens. they sent out a letter to you, the council of boy scouts, saying that you and others are welcome to participate in the parade as supportive citizens but not as uniformed members of the bsa, boy scouts of america. peter, we'll see what happens here. thank you for your side of the story. what does your gut tell you? do you think the scout leaders were promoting a political position by marching in the gay pride parade? one of them -- or some as you

saw in the photograph were in their uniforms. go to facebook.com/newsnation to cast your vote on this. that does it for this edition of "news nation." thanks for joining us today. i'll see you tomorrow. "the cycle" is up next. [ male announcer ] everyday thousands of people are choosing advil. here's one story. my name is taho and i'm a fish guy. it's a labor of love. it's a lot of labor and it's a lot of love. i don't need to go to the gym. my job is my workout. you're shoveling ice all day long. it's rough on the back. it's rough on the shoulders. i get muscle aches all over. advil is great.

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president obama back in berlin but five years later the cheers have turned to jeerz. >> the head of the nsa has a question for his critics. did you foil 50 different terror plots. they don't want special treatment, they want equal treatment. today the pentagon announces a plan to put women in combat. >> immigration reform is a del rat dance and now a top republican is ready to tango with his own party. >> there is nothing delicate about the debate happening in the house this morning banning abortions at 20 weeks. i've got a message for my fellow pro-lifers, we've got to change